Tony's hidden depths?
by ytteb
Summary: Tony can still surprise the team. A little, tiny bit of whump ... but it was necessary! I'm not very good at titles ...


_Tiny spoiler for 'Code of Conduct' – it always intrigued me ... but I don't own them._

It was a fairly ordinary day in the squad room at NCIS Headquarters. The MCRT team under the watchful gaze of their leader Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was working at a number of tasks: finishing paper work, working cold cases and enjoying not having to work at the breakneck speed of the previous fortnight. They would probably get bored after a while but for the moment they could live without catching another case for a short time. Gibbs relished the peaceful atmosphere – his agents were a bit too tired to have the energy to argue with one another but not so tired that they were easily irritated. The lead agent took a soothing sip from his coffee which was just at the perfect temperature – he allowed himself a little smile of contentment. Then he sensed Director Leon Vance coming down the stairs and, looking up, saw that he had a bundle of papers in his hand. Vance, Gibbs and paperwork was never a good combination. Things must be slow upstairs, he mused, for the Director to be making a visit.

The Director stopped in the middle of the squad room, waited until everyone looked up at him and then got straight to the point:

'SecNav wants to improve our image. He wants to be able to show that this Agency is caring and, er, community minded. With that in mind, he wants to know about any voluntary work NCIS agents do in their spare time.'

'Spare time? What's that?' Agent DiNozzo was heard to mutter. Vance ignored him in his usual majestic way.

'So, I need each of you to fill these forms in with the details. Hand them in by the end of the day.' With that, he plonked a small pile of paper on McGee's desk and stalked off. This showed the Director's wisdom – he had probably guessed that Gibbs would have swept them straight into the bin if he had given them to him. As it was, McGee got up and handed them out. Gibbs glared at his form and didn't even bother to put his readers on. He took another sip of his coffee, which had cooled slightly.

Ziva picked up her form.

'While I do not quite see why the SecNav wants us to do this, I do not think this will be a problem. As it happens, I have just started volunteering to help people studying for their citizenship examinations. My language skills will be most useful to them.' McGee also could see no trouble,

'I'm with you, Ziva but I can put my scout leader work down.' And they both picked up their pens and began to write. After a few minutes, Tim looked up and noticed that, like Gibbs, Tony seemed to be ignoring the form on his desk.

'Er, Tony, I think the Director wants us all to fill in the forms.' Tony just stared at him and then returned to his work. Ziva decided to join in,

'Tony, if you haven't got any voluntary work to enter, I'm sure my program could do with some volunteers.'

'Doing what, Zeeva?'

'Well, although your language skills are much more limited than mine, I expect there would be some basic help you could offer.'

'It just so happens that I'm very fluent in Spanish, Italian _and_ American.'

'If you say so although I would say that I am more proficient in Spanish and Italian. And I sometimes find difficulty in following your American.'

Tony responded with a string of rapid fire words in what McGee and Gibbs could only assume was Spanish. They noticed that Ziva went a bit pink.

'Um, what did you just say, Tony?' asked Tim.

'I was just demonstrating to Special Agent David that I am especially fluent in Spanish expletives.' Ziva rallied well,

'I apologize, Tony. It seems that you are proficient than I in certain areas. Perhaps you would be able to give me lessons?'

'Ziva, attractive as it may sound to spend a couple of hours swearing with you, I think I going to pass.' And with that, he resumed his work and silence fell once more. Tim was concerned that Tony was going to incur the Director's wrath so he turned his mind to finding something for Tony to volunteer for.

The next day began much as the day before. Everyone sitting quietly getting on with their work until Vance came down the stairs.

'Gibbs, I've got all the forms for your team except for DiNozzo's.'

'I didn't fill one in, Leon,' said Gibbs.

'No,' agreed Vance, 'but I know that you make the toys for the hospital so I put that down. Sort of thing the SecNav will love. But, Agent DiNozzo, I couldn't begin to guess what you might get up to in your spare time. You've got till lunchtime.'

'Is this compulsory, Director?. I mean, I thought that spare time was meant to be spare time ... not that we get that much of it.' The team sensed that the Director was not happy with SecNav's requirements but was going to go along with it.

'Lunchtime would be good, Agent DiNozzo.' And he was gone, back up the stairs to his eyrie.

Tim saw his chance to be helpful.

'Tony, I've been thinking about things you might volunteer to do. I remembered that you said that you like old people ... and they do seem to like you'.

'Probably because their eyesight and hearing are going,' chuckled Ziva. Tony looked up and glared both at Ziva and Tim but Tim was determined to do his good deed.

'No, it's true, Ziva, old people do like Tony. Ask Gibbs about Tony and Ernie Yost. Anyway, I did an internet search of programs for assisting seniors that are based within a half-mile of your apartment. There's all sorts of opportunities – taking them for drives, reading to them and there's even one to take them to the cinema. I've got all the details and I've started to fill in an on-line application form for you.' Tim always dreaded getting one of Gibbs' glares but that day he was reminded that Tony's were just as alarming. Tony's eyes narrowed and his mouth formed a straight thin-lipped line and when he spoke it was in an icy tone of voice,

'Thank you, Special Agent McGee – it's good to know that you've got enough spare time to be meddling in the lives of people who you obviously feel don't measure up to your standards.' He made a visible effort to control himself, 'but anyway, Tim, I can't really fill in the form with something I'm not doing yet, can I. And I'm not going to lie.' Gibbs intervened,

'McGee, delete that application form, I don't think DiNozzo will be needing it.' He walked over to Tony's desk. Tony looked up at him dejectedly,

'Please, Boss ... just leave it. It's not important.'

'I agree, but why's it got you going?' asked Gibbs.

'I've got a killer headache and I'm a bit shivery ... not the DiNozzo dazzler today, not firing on all cylinders'.

'Go and see Ducky,' ordered Gibbs, 'Go on,' he said when he saw Tony open his mouth to object. Tony obeyed and Gibbs was concerned to notice for the first time that he looked a bit pale and weary. He resisted the temptation to walk down to Autopsy with Tony. About ten minutes later he got a call from Dr Mallard.

'Jethro, I'm sending Anthony home. I think he may be coming down with flu and I don't want to take any chances. We're not busy down here so Mr Palmer is going to drive him home and pick up some medicine on the way.'

'Thanks, Duck. Tell him not to come back until he's better.' He put the phone down and told the rest of the team.

'At least he won't have to fill the form in,' said McGee.

A week later the squad room was still quiet, and missing one member. Ducky had been right and Tony had come down with a nasty bout of flu. The team had rallied round: Ducky and Jimmy had dropped round at least once a day to check on him, Tim, Ziva and Abby had shopped, cooked, cleaned and generally looked after him. Gibbs had also visited daily and done whatever it was that Gibbs did to make Tony feel more Tony-like. The worst was now over but Ducky had decreed that another two days at home was needed before Tony could come back to work. The squad room had been a rather duller place without the DiNozzo effect at work so everyone looked up with interest when Gibbs' phone rang.

'Yeah, Gibbs.'

'Front desk here. There are a couple of boys down here asking everyone who comes in if they know where Agent DiNozzo is. It's getting to be a bit of a nuisance but we don't want to get heavy with them.'

'On my way.'

'Case, Boss?' asked McGee.

'Gear up?' said Ziva hopefully.

'Nope, coupla kids downstairs asking for DiNozzo'. He made for the elevator and wasn't really surprised to be tailed by Tim and Ziva. Children and Tony were an unlikely combination. Two boys slightly scruffy, to Gibbs' eyes (but hell what did he know – it might be the height of fashion) were standing at the reception desk with expressions of wary defiance on their faces.

'I'm Special Agent Gibbs, Agent DiNozzo's boss'.

'The man with the boats in the basement?' said one of the boys. 'Cool.'

'And are you McGeek?' asked the other.

'Yes ... NO,' said McGee, 'I'm Agent McGee, one of Agent DiNozzo's co-workers.'

'And you must be the ninja', said the first boy looking at Ziva.

'You have the advantage on us,' said Gibbs, 'who are you? And what do you want with Agent DiNozzo?'

'We wanted to check that he's still around ... not gone off and left us. I'm Jake and this is Rambo.'

The team looked at the undersized lad who was apparently named Rambo. He spoke up,

'That's what D calls me ... my real name is Robert.'

'Come on, boys. I think we've got some catching up to do. Why don't we go to the coffee shop and get some sodas?' suggested Gibbs.

And so, gradually, the boys' stories came out. It took a while because they were obviously fascinated by the three adults about whom they seemed to know a lot: they kept interrupting the 'interrogation' to ask questions about Ziva's use of paperclips, why Tim picked sprinkles off donuts and why Gibbs hated wearing his spectacles. The agents were relieved that Ducky was on a mercy mission to Tony's apartment as otherwise the whole thing would have taken even longer. To Team Gibbs' astonishment it turned out that the boys knew Tony from the Urban Youth Project in downtown Washington. They couldn't tell the team what Tony did there except that somehow it was 'awesome' and D, as they called him, was something of a hero to them. But he hadn't been around for a week and they were worried. He did go long spells of not being there but he had always been able to let them know beforehand. Gibbs could tell that these kids were used to disappointment and being let down, they didn't seem to have much going for them and, somewhat surprisingly, Tony was one of the few good things in their lives.

'Jake, Rambo ... I promise you that Tony ... er ...D will be back. He's had flu and it knocked him back a bit so he hasn't been around', said Gibbs.

'And he had to be careful, you know, after the plague,' supplied Tim.

'The plague!', gasped Jake and Rambo with round eyes. It seemed that while Tony talked a lot about his teammates, he didn't tell them everything about himself.

'Yes, you know 'superhero' stuff,' said Ziva. Jake and Rambo nodded wisely and touched their fingers to their noses to signify that they knew it was something to keep quiet about.

'Shouldn't you boys be in school?' asked Gibbs. He smiled at their guilty looks and said,

'OK, I'll run you back.' The boys looked a bit alarmed. McGee grinned as he realised why.

'Um, Boss, why don't I take them back. _The D may have told them stories about your driving'._ Gibbs nodded,

'And when you get back, McGee ...'

'Yes, Boss, I'll start looking into Urban Youth Project.'

Later that afternoon, Tim looked up from his computer and said excitedly,

'I knew the name rang a bell. Do you remember, Ziva, that Halloween when Tony won the Larceny Lotto and donated the winnings to ...'

'Of course, Urban Youth Project. I didn't quite believe him at the time.'

'What ya got?' asked Gibbs.

'Well, Urban Youth Project has been going for about fifteen years. It provides a sort of drop-in centre for underprivileged kids or kids who've got into trouble, it's a safe place for them. It's based in an old warehouse and has got some pretty cool stuff there ... PCs, games, basket ball but it also runs classes for kids who have fallen behind. It's got a good reputation and has done some pretty serious fund raising too. Looks like a good place, Boss.'

'But it seems odd for Tony to be involved,' said Ziva, 'I mean, why would he not have said something. And he does not like children. Are we sure this is not all a mistake?'

'DiNozzo's good with teenagers and older children,' said Gibbs, 'it's toddlers that panic him. Good work, Tim. Go home, both of you.'

'What are you going to do, Boss?' asked Tim.

'I'm going to pay Urban Youth Project a visit,' replied Gibbs, 'and no, you can't come too. Go with Abby to visit DiNozzo and don't tell him about Jake and Rambo.'

Gibbs had been greeted like a long lost friend at the Project. As soon as he identified himself the manager invited him into the office and supplied him with a cup of strong coffee.

'Dale Bradshaw,' he introduced himself, 'good to meet you at last. D's a big fan of yours you know and I don't think he's easily impressed.' Bradshaw was a man about Gibbs's age with thinning brown hair and grey eyes, short and wiry with a contented open expression. Gibbs liked what he saw, his gut told him that Dale was someone to be trusted.

'Well, Tony's one of a kind himself. He hasn't mentioned any of this to me and I thought I knew pretty much everything about him. How long has he been helping here?'

Bradshaw seemed to weigh things up for a while and then seemed to make up his mind,

'I guess it won't be breaking any confidences to tell you. Tony's been helping here about eleven years. Probably not long after he came to Washington ... just after he split up from Wendy. I must admit I didn't think he'd be here long but he was useful from the start. Great at basketball and football and even better at coaching the kids – phys ed degree and everything, you know. He says that he came because he had so much energy he didn't know what to do with himself even though you drove him hard at work ... I don't think he's got quite so much energy now ... boy, was he a ball of fire! But right from the getgo, he was great with the kids ... and it wasn't just about the sport, he listened to them, he cared about them and he gave them good advice. You might think that some of the kids here would be suspicious of a fed but it's never been a problem – they just seem to respect him.

'He's been good in other ways too. He's helped us a lot with fund raising – he's got contacts and he can turn on the charm when he needs to. I've joked with him a few times about it being good he uses his powers for good and not evil. And joshing apart, I think there's a grain of truth there – I think things could have gone wrong for him and he knows how easily he could have gone down another path. He's never said anything about that but I think that's another reason he's good with the kids – he knows what temptation is like. He's started helping out with language classes – although he says it's helping him ... he learns more Spanish swear words every time he runs a class! I told the boys he had the flu but they didn't quite believe me. I'm sorry they troubled you.'

'It's no problem, Mr Bradshaw, I'm glad to have met them.'

'Dale, please. You know, Gibbs, I'm going to retire in a couple of years time. I kinda hope that Tony might take over from me – the board would offer it to him in a flash.'

Later that night, when he was sure that Abby, Tim and Ziva would have left, Gibbs knocked on Tony's door.

'Hey, Boss, come in. Ziva brought some of her cholent if you want some.' Gibbs shook his head but accepted Tony's offer of coffee.

'I met some friends of yours today,' he offered.

'Cindy and Mindy?' asked Tony suggestively.

'No, Jake and Rambo.'

'Ah ... what did they want?'

'You. They were worried about you. Good kids ... they seemed to know a lot about us. Seems to me you could have filled in SecNav's forms without any problem.' Tony held his own cup of coffee a bit more tightly.

'Met Dale Bradshaw too. He's a big fan of the D.' Tony smiled,

'He's a great guy ... you know, I wasn't really keeping it a secret. At the beginning I didn't think I'd be there very long – apart from anything else I'd never kept a job for more than a couple of years.'

'Eleven years, Tony, that's a long time.'

'Well, we weren't really into sharing at the beginning, were we, Boss? And it was kind of good to have something completely separate from work. And nobody would really have believed that I was good with kids ... although Ziva would probably say it's because I am one myself. Do they know?'

Gibbs nodded and Tony winced,

'I'd better look out for paper clips then. I don't think she poisoned the cholent though, Abby and McGee had some. But Boss, you know, I didn't want to explain it all ... I'm not sure I _can_ explain it. It's just something I'm good at ... and you said it's a rule, 'don't waste good'. I had a couple of people when I was growing up who sort of rescued me, gave me a sense of purpose, made me feel I was worth something ... it may sound sappy, but I'd like to be that person to some other lonely, invisible kid. But I'm not going to put it all down on a form just so that SecNav can feel good about himself.'

'Think they could use some wood working classes there, Tony?' asked Gibbs. Tony smiled,

'I guess so ... they've got some space in a basement. You can show them how to get boats out of basements ... they already think you're some sort of wizard. Hey, if I come to the classes, will you show me how you do it?'

'In your dreams, DiNozzo.' Gibbs raised his cup in a toast,

'Oohrah ... Proud of you, Anthony'.


End file.
